Test Everything… and Think! (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

We live in a world that doesn’t like to come to conclusions. Think about it for a second. Coming to a conclusion on something involves thinking, effort, eliminating options, deciding, the possibility of being wrong, inevitably disagreeing with someone, and probably the biggest factor, quite possibly having to change one’s beliefs or even have an entire paradigm shift.

As G.K. Chesterton said, “The purpose of an open mind is the same as that of an open mouth, that it might close on something.” Frankly, in a world where objective truth is an oxymoron, most people don’t care much about “closing on something.”
But even moving past the idea of conclusions, I’m convinced that simply knowing what others have concluded means very little if one has not engaged in the thinking process himself so as to make his own conclusions. Which is more preferable—simply having the correct answer fed to you via “osmosis” or actually knowing the “ins” and “outs,” reasons, arguments, and proofs to validate that answer as being correct? Laziness will choose the former, but a diligent mind will readily seek the latter. Our “ignoring-ness” has made us accept ignorance, and we willingly, readily, and purposefully accept being ignorant. One must not be apathetic about his beliefs, presuppositions, and therefore resist the act of thinking. We must test our own beliefs because, whether or not we do, others will.

Now, let’s move this idea of being a thinker, tester, examiner, and questioner specifically to the Christian realm. God gave most of us mental capacity, intending for us to use it. As Christians, we ought to seek above all else to please and glorify God in our whole existence as much as possible. This, by necessity, requires examining our thoughts, beliefs, convictions, conduct, judgments, assumptions, speech, use of time, etc. with scripture to find things that need improving, correction, or a complete overhaul. Our problem is that we tend either to be apathetic, lazy, assumptive, or, more probable, all three.

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